Friday, November 5, 2010

Friday, April 16, 2010

On a journey through India I spent a night in the sacred town of Haridwar. I came across this piece about Haridwar in the New York Times and it brought me back to the amazing spiritual scene.

"HARIDWAR, India — Over the bridge they came, Hindu holy men by the tens of thousands, the most devout naked and dusted with sacramental powder, marching toward the bathing pool in the Ganges where the water is considered holiest on this most propitious of days." MORE

Friday, February 26, 2010

I'm constantly baffled by the amazing work that the late Johnny Cash produced with Rick Rubin. The music is stripped down, bare, raw, emotional, naked expressionism recorded with minimal technology. Today, on his 78th birthday, the sixth and final installment of the American Recordings was released: American Recordings VI:Ain't No Grave.

NPR.com has an interview with Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin that Terry Gross did in 1997 accessiblehere (hat tip to Phawker's continuous NPR coverage "NPR for the deaf, we hear it even when you can't").

Don Argott's new documentary on The Barnes fiasco, "The Art Of The Steal," is creating waves in the art world. The location in Lower Merion envisioned by Dr. Barnes was an amazing museum to experience. Granted, it will be more accessible on The Ben Franklin Parkway, but venturing off the beaten path to spend a winters day photographing the galleries inside the Museum is an assignment I'm happy to have had. The physical space and its beautiful surroundings represented a unique museum going experience. Henri Rousseau's "Unpleassant Surprise" is the large piece featured in the room pictured above (left wall).

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The 9th annual Independent Music Awards were released this week and Phil Roy's "In The Weird Small Hours" won concept album of the year. Inspired by Sinatra's "In The Wee Small Hours," Phil covered Radiohead, Elliot Smith, Conor Oberst, Eels and other influential artists. I've written about my collaborations with Phil before. However, I feel the need to add something: He did it himself. No label backed him, no contract forced him, no radio station promoted him, no publicist announced him and no magazine/newspaper wrote about the album. Whether you like the music or not, its wonderful to see an individual tackle the artistic and financial mountains alone...and come away with some much deserved recognition. So buy the album here and give Phil a call. He doesn't facebook, tweet, IM, blog, chat, or text. He takes phone calls. And his number will soon be listed on his website along with his hours of availability. Thanks Phil for trusting me to conceive the album art, shoot film with my Leica, edit the contacts and design the photo layouts. I forgive you for yelling at me when I touched your guitar at 3am after a long shoot. More about the IMA's:

"The Winners in more than 50 album, song, music video and design categories culled from thousands of submissions from around the globe, were determined by a panel of 80 influential artists and industry pros including Tom Waits, The Black Keys, Ricky Skaggs, Pete Wentz, Mark Hoppus, Aimee Mann, The Apples in Stereo, David Garrett, Suzanne Vega, Bettye LaVette, Judy Collins, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward."

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

• Mose John Allison Jr. was born in 1927 in Tippo, Mississippi, a cotton town in the Mississippi delta. By the time Mose was in grade school he was already composing boogie woogie tunes on the piano. His father, a piano stride player himself, encouraged the young Mose in his playing but also taught him the meaning of "work on the farm." Mose plowed cotton with a mule and said once that he is probably one of the few remaining living bluesman who can honestly make that claim. He grew up where "The blues was in the air." While still in his teens Mose was sitting in with R and B bands on Memphis’s famed musical mecca Beale Street. One of those bands was led by another teenage bluesman, Beale Street Boy, better known as B. B. King. It was a full decade before SUN Records discovery of Elvis Presley. In the 1940’s in the deep south it was not yet socially acceptable for races to mix in public places. When it comes to music Mose says, "I just followed my ears."MORE

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Brian McTear (pictured), whom I've had the honor of working with numerous times for photo shoots and video work, is doing amazing things for music and musicians. His brainchild, Weathervane Music Organization, was launched last year to support the creation of independent music in today's turbulent music industry.

Today Weathervane announced "Shaking Through" a partnership with 88.5 WXPN in Philadelphia. The first artist to participate is Sharon Von Etten. Her song "Love More" is a beautiful ballad filled with drawn out sounds, minimal percussion and two part harmonies.

'Shaking Through' is a curated series of audio and video recordings featuring our favorite independent artists, their music, and artfully produced video of the recording sessions that went into making that music. Each selected artist has the opportunity to record a new song in a high-end studio with noted engineers and producers. The sessions take place over two days including the recording, mixing and video. The process is shot with cinematic flair in HD video, giving the audience an exciting and intimate window on the artist's process, and giving the artist a powerful showcase for their artistic vision. 'Shaking Through" is a collaborative effort of Weathervane Music and WXPN radio in Philadelphia.

About me: 34 years ago I was born in NYC (my dad was born there too), have family in Toronto (my mom's Canadian), grew up in Philadelphia (where I found my first camera) and studied photography at NYU (where I learned how much I have to learn). This blog is a space for projects, ideas, sketches and inspiration.